Women's Volleyball | 9/2/2025 9:46:00 AM

#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle volleyball will return to the court this weekend and in a place they have never really been before. The Golden Eagles will head to the beautiful East Coast for four non-conference games this weekend. The Golden Eagles will also play four brand new opponents this weekend; Assumption, Saint Anselm, Felician and Southern New Hampshire. The maroon and gold will also play four matches in two different states, starting with a true road match at Assumption on Thursday. The Golden Eagles enter with high expectations and those high expectations will be put to the test this weekend. It's the first trip to the East Coast for the maroon and gold since 2015.

·   1,700 MILES. Based on my math (probably not the best basis for this), Minnesota Crookston will be traveling the farthest they have ever traveled for a non-conference tournament in program history. Granted, the Golden Eagles have put on the miles in the previous two seasons, heading to Odessa, Texas in 2023 and Pueblo, Colo., just a year ago, both over 1,000 miles from the beautiful campus of Minnesota Crookston. Minnesota Crookston will play three matches in Manchester, New Hampshire, with another match in Worcester, Mass., which is a little closer, but still over 1,600 miles away. The Golden Eagles will look to travel that distance and bring back some wins to the land of 10,000 lakes.

·   M & M. In order for Minnesota Crookston to have success this season, the Golden Eagles will rely on their upperclassmen to have a great year. Two of those upperclassmen include Emma Malek and Carizma Muth. The Golden Eagles relied on both a season ago, with great success. Both Malek and Muth combined for 485 points accounted for last season, while Muth was second on the maroon and gold in kills and also finished with over 200 digs. Malek finished with 170 kills on the year and led the Golden Eagles in blocks with 49. The two will look to be even better this season and if they are, the Golden Eagles should be better, as well.

·   BROKE THE DAM.  Minnesota Crookston has swept Bemidji State two of three seasons, dating back to 2022, which included a pair of wins last year in four and five sets, respectively. In their five set win at home against BSU, the Golden Eagles served their way to the win. The Golden Eagles finished with 15 service aces in the match, which was their most in the D-II era in a single match. Minnesota Crookston served well last season and they will look to carry that into this season, with most of their returners back in the fold.

·  WAAS THAT A DIG? Junior Kailee Waasdorp was chosen as the player to watch for the maroon and gold this season, for good reason. The Golden Eagles should be set in the back row, with Waasdorp and Lauren Schnettler, who will make her Golden Eagle debut this season as a redshirt freshman. Waasdorp was special last season for the Golden Eagles. The West Fargo native finished with 485 digs on the year, putting her 63rd in the nation with that number and also added a whopping 5.16 digs per set, which was good for top-35th in the nation. The incoming junior also finished with 20 or more digs in 11 matches, including 34 in a win over Eastern New Mexico. Waasdorp also had a stretch last season where she finished with 20 or more digs in five straight matches, which is the most by a Golden Eagle since at least 2012 and the first Golden Eagle to do it over a two weekend stretch since Chelsea Wiesner did it in a four-match stretch in 2012.

• DIG IT LIKE ZERO. Minnesota Crookston was a fairly solid defensive team last season, as is evidenced by five players last season with 200 or more digs on the year. Led by Waasdorp, four other Golden Eagles had more than 200 digs; Madison Carsten, Carizma Muth, Bailey Schaefer and Baily Teveldal. The latter two are no longer members of the Golden Eagles. With Waasdorp in the back row and Carsten and Muth, who each play essentially every rotation, the maroon and gold have to feel good about where they sit on defense for 2025.

·   SEARCH FOR OFFENSE. The Golden Eagles certainly have the talent this season to do some damage in the NSIC and potentially sneak into the top-10 in the conference. If that happens, the Golden Eagles will need to find some offensive consistency throughout the year. As mentioned before, Muth and Carsten are both back to lead the charge, after combining for more than 450 kills on the season. That is a good thing, but the offensive consistency and hitting percentage will need to improve as a team. If that happens, expect the Golden Eagles to be a dangerous team when they lace 'em up this season.

• SET AT SETTER? The simple answer to this question would be...maybe? It's not like the Golden Eagles don't have options at the setter position. In fact, one could argue they have a plethora of setters that could get the job done. On the other hand, the Golden Eagles have just one setter on the roster that has any kind of experience in the maroon and gold: Dana Melby, who is also the teams' lone senior. Besides Melby, the Golden Eagles have two freshmen setters on the roster in Ellery Ehresmann of Albany, Minn., and Abbi Gingerich of Granger, Ind. Minnesota Crookston has options at the setter position and we will find out which player takes the job and runs with it in 2025.

·   GEAR UP FOR THE CHALLENGE. Much like they did a season ago, Minnesota Crookston will gear up for the NSIC with some challenging non-conference matches. The Golden Eagles will play eight non-conference matches this season in three different states. In 2024, the Golden Eagles got off to their best start in nearly a decade, starting 2-0 for the first time since 2014, when the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 6-0 record, which is still the program best in the Division II era. The Golden Eagles will look for a similar start this weekend and will have two true road matches to gear up for the ultra-competitive Northern Sun. The home opener for the Golden Eagles will be on Sept. 19, when the maroon and gold welcome in perennial power Wayne State College.


How to Follow
Minnesota Crookston @ Assumption
Thursday, Sept. 4
4 P.M.
Worcester, Mass.
Live Stats -- https://assumptiongreyhounds.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live -- https://www.flocollege.com/teams/7922940-assumption-womens-volleyball

Minnesota Crookston @ Saint Anselm
Friday, Sept. 5
5 P.M.
Manchester, N.H.
Live Stats -- https://saintanselmhawks.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live -- https://www.flocollege.com/teams/7921213-st-anselm-womens-volleyball

Minnesota Crookston vs Felician
Saturday, Sept. 6
10 A.M.
Manchester, N.H.
Live Stats -- https://snhupenmen.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live -- https://www.flocollege.com/signup?redirect=%2Flive%2F182926&utm_campaign=729068minnesotacrooks&utm_medium=partner&utm_source=multiple&utm_content=signup&contract_id=0063m00000n3zllaa2&coverage_id=14430263&sp=&sp=conf-partner

Minnesota Crookston @ Southern New Hampshire
Saturday, Sept. 6
2 P.M. 
Manchester, N.H.
Live Stats -- https://snhupenmen.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live -- https://www.flocollege.com/signup?redirect=%2Flive%2F182926&utm_campaign=729068minnesotacrooks&utm_medium=partner&utm_source=multiple&utm_content=signup&contract_id=0063m00000n3zllaa2&coverage_id=14430263&sp=&sp=conf-partner


#OPPONENTOUTLOOK

ASSUMPTION. There is a first time for everything, which includes this weekend for the maroon and gold, who will meet four teams they have never played in program history. The Greyhounds are coming off of an eight win season and a 3-7 record in Northeast 10 play. A season ago, the Greyhounds opened up the 2024 season winless through six games.

MONTGOMERY GENTRY. Sophomore Kaitlyn Montgomery is back for Assumption after having a standout freshman season in the middle. The sophomore from Plymouth, Mass., finished last season with 158 kills on more than 360 attempts with just 51 errors. Montgomery also finished with four matches with more than 10 kills, including a career best 14 against Southern New Hampshire. She was also outstanding defensively, finishing with 84 blocks, which put her seventh in the NE10 in terms of blocks. She also ranked seventh in blocks per set and kills.

SAINT ANSELM. The Hawks and Golden Eagles will meet for the first time on Friday. Saint Anselm is coming off a nine win season a year ago and went 3-7 in NE10 play. Saint Anselm finished the year 2-2 in their final four matches last season. Saint Anselm was picked to finish fifth in the NE10 this upcoming season.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY. Hollyn Frano basically moved all the way across the country to play her collegiate ball. Frano, now a junior, hails from Cave Creek, Ariz., and is now in year three at Saint Anselm, whose campus sits in Manchester, N.H. Frano has had a really good career as a Hawk, as she was named the NE-10 Newcomer of the Year in 2023 and won the Rookie of the Week award four different times that season. She led the team a season ago with 333 kills on the year and is back looking for more this season.

FELICIAN. The Golden Falcons enter the season following a 9-20 season in 2024 and were 6-10 in conference play a year ago. This season, Felician was selected to finish fourth in the North Division of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.

NEED AN ACE. Friday's match could be won at the service line. A season ago, Felician was one of the best serving teams in the entire nation. The Golden Falcons were top-50 in the entire nation in aces and aces per set. Felician finished with 217 service aces on the year in 2024, which was 42nd in the entire land. Minnesota Crookston finished with 143 service aces on the season. It's an important part in any match and that should be the same on Friday.

SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE. The Penmen might have the best nickname in all of Division II and for sure the best nickname the Golden Eagles will see this season. The Penmen are another team that won nine matches a season ago.

ALL ABOUT THE U. Daya Jean-Baptiste probably has nothing to do with the University of Miami, other than the fact that she is from Miami. The junior returns to the Penmen following a solid junior season, where she finished with more than 80 kills and finished with 30 blocks, third amongst returners. The Penmen will have options to go this season and they hope that Jean-Baptiste is one of those options.